Dubliners Stephen Ward and Stephen Quinn are among four injured players ruled out of Martin O’Neill’s Ireland squad for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Austria in Vienna.

Midfielder James McCarthy will also miss the game in what is a big blow to O’Neill, while defender Cyrus Christie is the final absentee from the manager’s original provisional squad.

Some other players are due to assessed by medical staff, with a training session due to be held at Abbotstown on Tuesday.

Dubliner Andy Boyle and his Dundalk team-mate Daryl Horgan are both retained in the squad as the League of Ireland pair prepare for their first involvement in the senior international set-up for a competitive game.

Currently joint-top of Group D, after three games played, Ireland will play their third away qualifier of the campaign against a team sitting 30th in the FIFA World Rankings.

But O’Neill has a few weak areas to assess due to Ireland’s injury problems and with both Ward and Christie unavailable, Dubliner Robbie Brady could revert to a left-back slot for the tie.

Boyle and Brady are two of eight Dubs that remain in the squad, along with midfielders Jeff Hendrick, Glenn Whelan, Wes Hoolahan, Stephen Gleeson and Johnny Hayes and striker Adam Rooney.

The Ireland squad will train at the FAI National Training Centre before departing for Vienna on Thursday.